


amaryllis, a flower painted red

by snowysatoru



Category: Fire Emblem: Seisen no Keifu | Fire Emblem: Genealogy of the Holy War
Genre: Hanahaki Disease, M/M, also seliph sweetie i'm so sorry and i apologize in advance, the AU that i'm sure no one asked for but guess what y'all are getting it anyways, there's a happy ending i promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2019-01-15
Packaged: 2019-07-27 11:19:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16217957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snowysatoru/pseuds/snowysatoru
Summary: Flower petals were the last thing Seliph expected to wake up to one morning, and with a huge coughing fit to boot. Hiding them from those he was close to was not going to be an easy task.Especially if Ares was one of those people.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> GOD this is a fic that I've been wanting to write for a While. I've been wanting to write areseliph ever since I finished fe4 and what better way to do that than with a hanahaki au!
> 
> I have no idea how many chapters this will be (my guess would have to be between 4-6), and i'll be updating as i finish writing each chapter. how frequent i update might be all over the place (it depends on my motivation, really), but i'll do my best to not let this collect dust! 
> 
> i hope you all enjoy this as much as i have with writing it!

Of all the things that Seliph could’ve woken up to in the morning, red flower petals scattered along the pillow next to him — some even getting into his blue hair — was the last thing he was expecting.

Sitting up and taking a look around his bedroom, he saw that the door was still closed, so no one could’ve snuck in during the night and dumped flower petals next to him while he was sleeping. Seliph didn’t even know what kind of flower that the petals originated from; or if it even grew anywhere in Jugdral.

Pushing the thought out of his head, he scoops up the petals and sets them on his desk near the paperwork he was currently working on. This was something that he would have to take care of later.

 

~~~

 

A couple of hours later into the day and not only have the petals followed him, but Seliph is also accompanied by coughing fits that would occur at random. Sometimes they would only last for about a second or two; other times it would take a few minutes until Seliph was able to get a sentence out after trying to cough out the feeling that resided in his throat.

“Seliph?” Julia asks. “Are you okay, brother?”

“I’m fine, Julia,” Seliph assured,  his words followed by another cough. “Just a little under the weather is all…”

“A-Are you sure? You seem to be coughing an awful lot today.”

“I have?” Seliph questions.

Julia nodded in response. Seliph frowns, silently cursing himself for being unable to hide what (hopefully) looks like an oncoming cold. That’s what he told himself, at least.

Refusing to let her older brother be in any kind of discomfort, Julia gives Seliph a bottle of cough medicine, almost forcing it upon him when he refused to take the offer at first, saying that she insisted he has it just in case.

Not wanting to risk unleashing Julia's wrath, Seliph takes the bottle in hopes of fixing the scratchiness that was clawing its way through his throat. His only fear was that the petals, along with his coughing, were one and the same.

Seliph shakes the thought out of his head, hoping that it was just his mind playing tricks on him and it will all be better within the following days.

 

~~~

 

Unfortunately for him, Seliph’s biggest fear becomes true when he wakes up to an extremely painful coughing fit, crimson-colored flower petals spilling out from his mouth and into the palm of his hand. His immediate reaction was to scoop them up —along with the ones that were on his desk— and throw them outside off the balcony, praying to whatever God was looking down on him that no one would see them fall from any part of the castle.

He couldn’t let something as silly as this slow him down; not when Jugdral was in need of rebuilding after everything that went down in the previous Holy War. Grannvale needed their new king, and Seliph would do just that, his pride and flower petals be damned.

He could not afford to show any weakness, even if the pain becomes unbearable later down the line.

 

~~~

 

It was when Seliph went to visit Julia and see if she could give him any more medicine that he was informed that not only Ares was paying them a surprise visit, but Nanna would be joining them as well.

“They’ve wanted to pay us a visit for so long,” Julia explains, handing Seliph his medicine.

“Rebuilding Thracia and Agustria must’ve kept them occupied for quite some time, though…” Seliph replied.

“Mhmm,” Julia hums in agreement. “Nanna said in her letter that Ares was especially excited to see you.”

“R-Really?” Seliph blinks, the simple mention of Ares’s name enough to send a fluttering feeling down into his stomach, Julia covers her mouth to hide the small bit of laughter that escaped her lips.

“You seem very excited too, brother,” Julia teases, trying really hard to not burst into laughter at the sight of Seliph’s reddening face and widening eyes.

“I-I have no idea what you mean by that, Julia,” Seliph sputters out, the pout on his face not helping his case in the slightest.

Taking the medicine that Julia gives him, he takes his leave and makes his way back towards his bedroom.

The moment he closes the door behind him and places the medicine bottle on his desk is he brought down to his knees with the worst coughing fit that he’s had ever since they’ve started. The red flower petals spilled seemingly endless from his throat; the air from his lungs feeling like it was being stolen from him with all the nonstop heaving and coughing. He felt like he was going to suffocate from everything happening at once.

When he was able to catch his breath again, Seliph gathered up all the petals that he’s coughed up and stuffs them in a jar along with the petals that he found on his pillow this morning. After he takes a gulp of the medicine, he plops down onto his bed and passes out the second his body makes contact with the mattress.

 

~~~

 

Seliph is woken up by a knock on the door followed by Julia letting herself in, carrying a tray with what appeared to be a bowl of soup on top of it.

“Seliph, are you alright?” Julia asks, placing the tray on the desk and pulling the chair closer so she could sit next to Seliph’s bed, her brother slowly moving at the sound of Julia’s voice.

“J… Julia?” Seliph mumbles sleepily, moving to sit up and rub the sleep out of one of his eyes.

“You missed dinner, so I came to check up on you to see how you were doing.”

“I-I’m fine…”

“But your skin looks a little paler than you usually are,” Julia informs Seliph. “I know you’ve been dealing with a lot lately, but I worry that you haven’t been getting enough to eat.”

“Julia it’s—”

"At least take a bite."

"I'm not hungry—"

“Seliph for the love of Naga and everything that is holy could you _please_ eat the meal that I brought here for you. If not for your own sake then you could at least do it for my well-being. Don’t make me march all the way down to Calphy and inform Oifey about you being unable to take care of yourself. Because I _will._ ”

That was enough for Seliph to take the bowl and slowly but surely eat the soup that was prepared for him, Julia keeping a close eye on him and making sure that Seliph did eat his meal. When he finished, Julia says farewell for the evening, bidding her brother goodnight and giving him a small lecture before leaving.

Seliph stares up at the bedroom ceiling, his mind running all over the place with all his thoughts running a hundred miles a second. Not only does he have to try and hide the coughing and flower petals from Julia, but now he has to keep them hidden from Nanna and _especially_ Ares, not wanting to bring any more people into this mess, especially anyone that he was particularly close to.

Shaking his head, he decides to let the conflict run its course (for now) and falls asleep for the night, trying not to think about it more than he already has.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seliph doesn't seem to be getting any better, Julia becomes increasingly worried; and she, Nanna, and Ares are unaware of the mess they're getting themselves into.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again! First of all, I'm very happy with how much love this fic has gotten, so thank you to everyone that's read the first chapter!
> 
> This chapter was originally going to be longer than what it ended up being, but I liked where I ended it, so I hope you all don't mind! ^^;
> 
> I think I'm gonna try to release chapters on a weekly schedule, so here's hoping I stick to that!

The rapping on Seliph’s door was enough to pull him out of his slumber the next morning.

When he refuses to get out from under the covers and instead chooses to roll to the other side, burying his face in his pillow in the process, the tapping on the door continues— but a little louder than the first time. When Seliph  _ still  _ doesn’t respond, the knocking continued to only grow louder, the person on the other side sounding like they were very keen on not leaving until Seliph answered the door.

“Seliph,” Julia speaks, her voice echoing from the other side of the door. ”Are you awake?”

All Julia heard was another loud groan from Seliph, who buried himself into the covers more than he already had, as if he could block out any kind of noise if he ignored it enough.

Knowing that Seliph’s moaning and groaning was the best answer that she was going to get out of him, Julia invites herself in, closing the door behind her and ignoring his whining when she got close to his bed.

“Juliaaa…” Seliph grumbles. “Five more minutes…”

“Good morning to you too, Seliph,” Julia quips. “Are you feeling any better than you were yesterday?”

“Hardly.”

“... I see,” Julia says blankly.

“… Ares and Nanna are going to be arriving soon, aren’t they?”

Julia nods; Seliph buries his face into the pillow once more, his loud groan slightly muffled, followed by some coughing.

“Are you going to wake up and greet them with me, or do you want me to tell them that you’ll see them later when you’re feeling a little better?”

“I think you know the answer to that, Julia.”

“I suppose I do. Then I’ll let you sleep in until you’re in good enough shape to be out and about. Just expect Nanna to be a little… less than pleased when she does see you.”

“ _ Joy. _ ” Seliph spats out.

“You have no one to blame but yourself for this, Seliph,” Julia remarks. “Just… try to get some more rest, okay?”

“I’ll try,” Seliph coughs out.

Julia gives him an almost skeptical look, but she says nothing more and makes her way out of the bedroom, not giving her brother another glance, much to Seliph’s gratitude.

He would’ve let out a huge sigh of relief if it wasn’t for the coughing fit that came the moment Julia was out of his sight, as well as an abundant number of the same red flower petals — the same ones that have been plaguing him and his lungs — following in their wake.

 

~~~

 

Amidst the plains of green grass and the clear blue sky, Julia spots Ares and Nanna riding in the distance from where she stands at the castle gate, their arrival only just a matter of time.

When they do arrive outside the gates of Castle Belhalla, Julia gives them a warm greeting, Ares offering a handshake while Nanna chooses to wrap her arms around her in a hug, Ares quietly clearing his throat.

“I hate to interrupt this touching reunion,” Ares starts. “But do you know where your brother happens to be, Julia? It seems awfully rude for a king to not greet his guests, even if he is still new to having the crown.”

“W-Well, he’s been kinda… ‘under the weather’ this morning,” Julia responds. “So I let him sleep in a little until he’s well enough to be walking around.”

"Under the weather?" Ares raises an eyebrow. "So he's gotten himself ill? That doesn't seem like him…"

“Y-You’ll be able to greet him later, I promise!” she adds on. “Just… give him a little time…”

“Of  _ all _ the times for him to start falling ill, he decides that  _ now _ is the time,” Nanna spouts. “And to think that I was looking so forward to seeing him too.”

“I’m sure it isn’t that bad, Nanna,” Ares reassures his cousin. “Seliph doesn’t seem like a person to get sick for an extended period of time.”

“You give him too much credit, Ares,” Nanna huffs, crossing her arms. “He’s probably worked himself to the bone these past few weeks and not giving himself enough rest. I just had to deal with the same thing with Leif before I left Leonstar to come here…”

“I’m not sure if you’re right about that, Nanna…” Julia ponders. “I know my brother has a tendency to overwork himself — especially since he became king, but I’ve been making sure he’s taking care of himself. And he’s only been like this for a few days, and he’s been coughing nonstop since then…”

“Coughing?” Nanna and Ares ask simultaneously.

Julia nods in response. “I’ve been thinking that he’s been coming down with a cold; probably from not taking care of himself enough as Nanna previously said, but now I’m starting to think he’s dealing with something worse than that…”

“He’ll probably tell you that it’s nothing too extreme when he sees either of you and that he’s fine; but I’m beginning to worry about him,” Julia explains. “As much as I hate to put the burden such as this upon you two, especially since you both went through all this trouble to come and visit us, but… Can the two of you help me keep a close eye on Seliph, just in case something  _ does  _ befall him?”

Ares and Nanna exchange worried glances to one another, not sure on how to react to everything that Julia had just told them about Seliph's current condition. They could feel the sudden tension weigh down on them, neither of them mustering up the courage to speak at all instead of having a conversation with their eyes rather than their words. After what feels like an eternity (when it was just a minute in reality), the two of them turn their gazes back towards Julia.

“Even if he does have his own little secrets,” Nanna finally speaks up, her words cutting through the silence. “Seliph is still our friend and Grannvale still needs their king.”

“We’ll do what we can to be of aid, Princess Julia,” Ares adds in, hand over his heart and taking a bow; Nanna looking over at Ares for a split second and proceeds to do the same.

Though the trio was determined to fix whatever mess they had suddenly found themselves in, the feeling of uneasiness was still settling inside all three of them.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ares and Seliph share a moment that ends much shorter than planned. Nanna comes to the conclusion that she doesn't like one bit, and the answer she finds is even worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! 
> 
> First off, I want to give out a huge apology for leaving you all hanging for 3 months. To keep it short, things became really hectic during the past few months (both personal life and family-wise) and I haven't been able to sit down and get to writing. Plus, I managed to get a job which made me even busier than expected!
> 
> (Also this chapter turned out longer than I had anticipated woops.....)
> 
> If you been waiting for this chapter even after this small hiatus, I want to say thank you so much for your patience, and I promise I won't make you guys wait that long for the next chapter!
> 
> Now that that's all out of the way, I hope you all enjoy!

“So we told Julia that we would help her find out what’s going on with Seliph, but how do you suppose we do that?” Ares tells Nanna, the two of them walking through one of the many hallways throughout Castle Belhalla.

“You think I know the answer to that?” Nanna asks. “How am I supposed to know when we haven’t even seen him yet today?”

“A suggestion still would’ve been nice…” Ares murmurs under his breath.

Nanna lets out a huff and the two of them continue to walk around the castle corridors, the only sound shared between the two of them being the click-clacking of Nanna’s high-heeled boots against the tile floors. While the castle felt much less ominous now that there were barely any signs of any Loptyrian influence remaining since the fall of Dark Prince Julius, Nanna and Ares still felt a little uneasy going through areas that weren’t as well lit as others despite the fact that it was still daylight outside.

It almost felt like they were going in circles because almost every corner looked almost exactly identical to one another to the point where it was starting to get creepy.

“Nanna are you sure you know your way around here?” Ares drops the question after fifteen minutes of endlessly walking around and getting nowhere.

“Of course I do!” Nanna says hastily. “Not my fault whoever built this castle decided to make EVERYTHING look the same…”

“Says the person who told Julia that we can navigate through it on our own just fine…”

“LISTEN.”

“I’m all ears, dearest cousin.”

“You son of a— ”

“Nanna? Ares? Is that you?” A familiar voice calls out, silencing their bickering before it could turn into a shouting match.

Startled, the duo turned their heads to see whoever was calling out their names, only to come face to face with no one other than Seliph himself, standing right there in front of them, the two blonds looking like they had just seen a ghost

“Seliph—” Ares breathes.

“And here I thought we weren't gonna see you anytime soon, Seliph,” Nanna cuts her cousin off. “You almost had us worried sick, especially after what Julia told us about you being bedridden all morning.”

“My apologies, Nanna,” Seliph says, chuckling weakly. “I didn’t mean to give you two a scare…”

“But I’ve almost fully recovered, I promise,” Seliph reassures quickly, though the dark circles under his eyes want to say otherwise.

Nanna almost wanted to raise an eyebrow in suspicion — like she was thinking that Seliph was hiding something —  but for now, decides to give him the benefit of the doubt, as him and Ares seem to have already started to get well-acquainted with each other and started chatting up a storm while continuing to make their way through castle.

Though Seliph assured them that absolutely nothing was wrong with him, his words did little to calm down the uneasiness that Nanna felt growing inside her heart; like she didn’t really believe Seliph was telling her the truth, as much as she wanted to.

 

~~~

 

Despite the tingling residing in his throat, being in the company of Ares was enough to bring some ease to Seliph’s mind, even if his heart felt like it wanted to jump out of his ribcage when Ares did as much as give him a small smile, only for it to disappear whenever Nanna decided to tease them and laughing at Ares’s reaction when he tried to be angry, though his face turning cherry red made it look like he was only pouting like a child. Nanna could only laugh at her cousin’s flustered state, Seliph trying to hide his own fit of laughter in the process.

After some time, Nanna decided that she wanted to look around on her own, taking her cue to leave, leaving Ares and Seliph alone. Now that it was just the two of them, the silence in the air was beginning to feel so thick that one would be able to cut through it with a knife.

It especially didn’t help the suffocating feeling that had found its return inside Seliph, his lungs once again feeling like they were on fire and something clogging up his windpipe. As much as he tried to, the urge to cough couldn’t be kept in for any longer; so he allowed himself one or two coughs in hopes of easing the pain, the silence hanging around him and Ares finally broken.

It hardly did anything, but it was something and Seliph decided that it was enough, not wanting to worry Ares anymore than he already had.

That didn’t prevent Ares from shooting a concerned glance towards his friend when he turned around and saw Seliph hunched over, his mouth covered by his hands and muffling the loud coughing. Before Seliph can do so as much as speak, Ares is at his side in the blink of an eye; a hand running up and down Seliph’s back in hopes that it would be of some help.

“Seliph, are you sure you’re okay?” Ares asks once he’s sure Seliph is able to stand up normally. “That was quite the coughing fit you had there…”

“I’m fine, Ares,” Seliph promises. “It’s just the last of my cold trying to get out, is all…”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m absolutely positive. I just need to get some fresh air; especially after being bedridden all morning, and I know just the place for that.”

Seliph reaches his hand out; waiting for Ares to take it.

“Would you care to join me, Ares?” Seliph offers. “We have so much to catch up on and I want to share as much as I can with you.”

Ares hesitates, thinking about Seliph’s state just a few moments before. He has many questions running through his head, the most prominent being in regards to Seliph’s supposed common cold.

‘ _I’m starting to think he’s coming down with something much worse…’_ Julia’s words echo inside his head, making Ares worry even more in fear of her warning becoming a reality.

Shaking his head to ward off any more worries that may or may not come, he reaches out to take Seliph’s hand in his own, giving it a firm but gentle squeeze.

“Is there something on your mind, Ares?” Seliph questions.

“Nothing at all, my king,” Ares answers, giving Seliph’s hand another squeeze, hoping that it was enough to assure him. “If it’s alright with you, would you mind leading the way?”

The way Seliph’s face was beaming left a small bit of warmth that fluttered around in Ares’s heart.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Seliph responds with pride, walking towards their location and pulling Ares along with him.

 

~~~

 

A few minutes of walking later, and the two boys find themselves in an area that resembles a balcony. With the exception of a table and a couple of chairs as well as some quiet chirping, Ares feels like he walked into another world with Seliph, and they were the only two people in it.

It was Seliph’s hand tugging on his and clearing his throat that Ares was pulled out of his small daydream and lead him to the lone table and having a seat.

“What’s wrong, Ares?” Seliph chuckles. “Surely a view like this couldn’t be a surprise for you.”

“You’re right,” Ares agrees, clearing his own throat. “I remember there being an area like this back in Agustria when I lived with my father and aunt Lachesis. It’s just that I haven’t seen anything like it since I was very young.”

“Oh,” Seliph says blankly.

“And what about you, Seliph?” Ares questions back.

Seliph raises his eyebrows in slight surprise, but he answers, nevertheless.

“Well, to tell you the truth… this is the first place I’ve lived in that’s had anything like this. It was one of the first places I’ve found that’s caught my attention ever since I’ve started living here in Castle Belhalla.” he replies.

It’s when Seliph finishes that sentence that he begins to feel the painful feeling in his lungs once again, but he does his best to ignore it, not wanting to upchuck a mouthful of flower petals in front of Ares. He chooses to let out a  small cough, mentally praying that it would hide any small suspicion.

Ares gives a small glance of concern but doesn’t press the matter any further.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Seliph,” Ares begins, changing the topic. “I assume you’ve been adjusting to your position as King well enough?”

Seliph remains speechless, somewhat startled at the question.

“Did I overstep my boundaries?” Ares frowns, seeing a slight tremble in Seliph’s body.

“N-No, not at all!” Seliph replies. “It’s just been… a lot to process.”

“... I see.”

“Even if it’s been several months after all of everything being said and done. Even with Julia’s help, I’m still having some trouble adjusting to being a king; being someone that can be there to protect his people, especially when people have been looking at me as if I were a god…”

Seliph clenches his jaw at his own words; memories of the war crawling back into his mind and uneasiness settling into his belly.

“Hell, people _still_ look up to me as if I were some higher deity. Rather than, you know… just me being me,” Seliph confesses, looking down at his clenched fists at the table. “It still scares me to this day, Ares. What if I’m not fit to be a king?”

Seliph continues to look down at his fists, too scared to meet Ares eye-to-eye. He knew he could trust his friend, as he was one of the few people that could see Seliph for who he is: A person with his own fair share of worries, just like everyone else.

_‘But what if he thinks I’m just being silly?’_ Seliph asks himself. _‘What if I’m making an absolute fool of myself? And he doesn’t— ‘_

Seliph’s spiral of inner monologuing comes to a halt when he sees a hand reach out from the other side of the table and rests itself over Seliph’s own. He looks up to sees Ares’s eyes locked on his, a look of understanding written all over his expression; as if he was trying to sympathize with Seliph and his inner turmoil.

“Seliph,” Ares says in a tone of voice that was quiet but still loud enough for Seliph to hear. “I may not know what is running around in that damn head of yours, but I’ll say this if it helps just a little.”

Seliph hums in agreement and gives a small nod.

“While I can’t empathize completely with what you’ve been going through ever since the war ended, I  can understand the pressure one can have on their shoulders when trying to repair their homeland,” Ares explains, moving his fingers so he can interlace his fingers with Seliph’s.

Seliph feels his breath hitch at the gesture but doesn’t say a word, choosing to remain silent as Ares continues to talk.

“Trying to fix a country that’s been broken for years is no easy feat. Even with the help of people like Diarmuid and Nanna, I still have my doubts of whether or not Agustria can become the land that my father once loved.”

“Ares—” Seliph attempts to respond.

“While it may not be as much compared to what you’ve been going through, I know the pressure and pain, Seliph. The burden that’s been placed on both of our shoulders. But I also know this,” Ares continues. “I’m not alone in this, and neither are you.”

“I… I don’t know what to say…” Is all Seliph could say.

“Such strong words from the person that showed me that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, no matter how dark it may seem.” Ares teases, squeezing Seliph’s hand.

Seliph could feel his cheeks grow warm at Ares’s words, his heartbeat beginning to increase in speed at how unprepared he was at the small bit of affection.

Something else that Seliph was unprepared for was how his ribcage began to hurt immensely, along with the feeling that he became much more familiar with than he would’ve liked.

He felt like he was going to hurl, and he was going to do it in front of Ares of all people. Though he was uncertain about many things, he knew for certain about one thing that had to happen.

_Seliph had to make his grand escape; he had to get out of there_ **_fast._ **

Jumping out of his seat, the noise of the chair sliding was enough for alert Ares, who stood up along with him.

“A-Ares…” Seliph breathes out. “I… I have to go…”

“Seliph, what's wrong?” Ares asks, concerned.

“Nothing. I’m… I’m f-fine. I just—-” Seliph cuts himself off before he could finish getting his words out, his free hand coming up to cover his mouth.

“Seliph are you sure you’re—”

Ares is interrupted before he could get a full sentence out, Seliph releasing his hand from Ares’s grasp and making a beeline towards the door, leaving the other in a dumbstruck-like state as he tried to process what had just happened.

It doesn’t take too long, however, for Ares to snap out of it and go after him.

 

~~~

 

With no luck of finding Seliph and his trail gone cold, Ares decides to take his search to another section of the castle when he collides face-first into Nanna, who had just supposedly come out of a nearby room. When he regains the awareness of his surroundings, Ares finds himself eye-to-eye with the stern glare of his cousin who doesn’t appear too happy with their collision.

“For heaven’s sake, Ares,” Nanna groaned, rubbing the part of her head where she and Ares had collided. “You better have a good reason for almost hitting me on the head like that…”

“Sorry, Nanna,” Ares apologizes. “I’ve been in such a hurry that everything has been a blur for me.”

“A hurry?” Nanna questions, going from frustrated to intrigued and somewhat worried in the blink of an eye. “A hurry for _what?”_

“It’s about Seliph.”

The name of their blue-haired friend was enough to catch Nanna’s full attention, her whole body going still as stone instantly

“What about him?” Nanna demands, trying to hide the shakiness in her voice. “Weren’t you two going somewhere together?”

“We _were,_ ” Ares says. “But he told me that he had to go and he just… took off.”

“Did anything catch your eye before he disappeared?”

“Not really, but now that you mention it… His face did look quite pale; he was covering his mouth too, I think. Like he was trying to hide something that he was coughing up...”

_‘Coughing?’_ Nanna thinks, trying to piece everything together. _‘That could mean anyth—’_

The more Nanna slowly realized what could possibly be wrong, her face drained of color when her mind came to a possible conclusion.

‘ _No. There’s no way it can be that…’_ Nanna tells herself again.

“Nanna?” Ares asks. “Do you—”

“We have to find Seliph and find him _soon_ ,” Nanna says hastily, pointing in one direction. “You go that way and I’ll go this way.”

“What do you mean—”

“I think I know what may be wrong with Seliph,” Nanna admits. “And I don’t like the conclusion I came to, but finding him is our top priority.”

And that’s all she says before running off as fast as her feet could take her, the clicking of heels echoing in the castle halls.

 

~~~

 

No matter where her search took her, Nanna was having little— or rather, _no_ success in finding her friend. She was breathless; her feet hurt from the running she had done (perhaps running in boots with heels wasn’t the idea in the world…), but even as she was running out of options of where to look, something struck Nanna’s attention.

Moving to get up, she walks over to pick up the object in her hand. Rolling it around in her fingers, she immediately realizes what it is.

“A flower petal…” Nanna whispers to herself, rolling it around her fingers. “Really soft to the touch too, like it was just plucked. And in a beautiful shade of red.”

Upon further inspection, she spots a trail of petals that looked eerily similar to the one she was holding; all leading up to one door in particular. Pushing down the increasing uneasiness in her gut, Nanna presses on; determined to find out what was hiding amongst this trail of red.

A minute or two passes, and Nanna finds herself in front of the door that the flower petals guided her to. She could feel her hands trembling, but she proceeds to knock the door regardless.

“Seliph?” Nanna calls out, knocking on the door a couple times. “Are you in there?”

She was met with silence.

“Hellooooo. Are you in there, Seliph?” Nanna calls out again, giving the door a couple more raps; louder than the first set.

However, Nanna ended up with the same results as the first attempt.

Impatience deciding to get the best of her and throwing caution to the winds of Forseti, Nanna opens the door, only for her to be greeted by a sight that was something that she partially saw coming, yet she stood in the doorway frozen in shock; her gaze and focus never wavering.

It would’ve been hard to miss an unconscious Seliph lying on the floor, his body surrounded in an array of red flower petals.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! if you wanna hear me scream about areseliph (or just fire emblem in general), you can find me on twitter @snowysatoru!

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading! if you wanna see me yell about areseliph (and fire emblem in general), you can find me on twitter @snowysatoru !


End file.
